[1]It’s not clear whether Apple is doing this or it’s just someone who’s cut a deal with them (both 9to5Mac[2] and CNet[3] asked Apple for clarification, but the company apparently hasn’t responded yet), but an eBay store entitled “refurbished outlet”[4] has opened up, selling factory-refurbished Apple products at the same prices (including some 4th-gen iPod Touches at the bargain prices[5] I noted a couple of weeks ago) and with the same one-year warranty as on the Apple Store. (It’s a buy-it-now only operation, so there’s no bidding.) As a side benefit, only a few states’ residents—California, Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey, and Texas, and Washington, D.C.—have to pay sales taxes on products purchased this way.

Needless to say, this presents some excellent opportunities to pick up some only-slightly-outdated Apple hardware just in time for Christmas. Apple’s refurbished products are a remarkably good deal in general[6] (if you don’t mind being locked into Apple’s walled garden, anyway), the iOS devices are compatible with most major e-reading platforms thanks to the apps in Apple’s store, and the sales-tax savings make these even more tempting. And those 4th-gen Retina Display iPod Touches are some great little pocket-sized e-reading (and media-playing and Internetting in general) machines.

Several of the major catalogue retailers of the Mac have been offering refurbished Macs for many years. I just checked MacZone and CDW Mac and neither has any refurbished Macs for sale so maybe Apple has completely taken over the market.

#2 Comment By Michael W. Perry On November 20, 2012 @ 12:51 pm

Be careful. There may be a reason Apple is selling products this way.

A friend bought a Mac from a third-party outlet, which might be what this looks like legally. His iMac had a one-year warranty, but no 30-day exchange. Just after he got it, he discovered that there was an issue with the hard drive on earlier models, which included his. That’s probably how the third party got theirs at a discount. But having discovered that, there was no way he could exchange it for a revised and more trouble-free model.